Aedas-designed Hengqin MCC Headquarters Complex (Phase II) in Zhuhai, China, was named RLI Future Project 2018; while Olympia 66 in Dalian, China, received a high commendation for RLI International Shopping Centre 2018 at this year’s Global RLI Awards.

Designed by Global Design Principal Andy Wen and Chairman and Global Design Principal Keith Griffiths, Hengqin MCC Headquarters Complex (Phase II), with two high-rise Grade-A office towers and a series of retail, banquet, entertainment and leisure venues, sits in a prime area on the Hengqin Island in close proximity to the Lotus Bridge that links to Cotai, Macau. Design of the two towers and the small banquet building in between took reference from the totem of two dragons chasing for a pearl which symbolises good fortune and happiness in ancient Chinese myths. The towers portray a sense of strength and power with a façade that shimmers under the sun; while the banquet building looks like an exquisite pearl. The podium design echoes the nearby Lotus Bridge. It resembles a blooming lotus flower with ‘lotus leaves’ wrapping around the shopping centre and lining up the retail streets.

Designed by Global Design Principals Christine Lam and David Clayton, Olympia 66 is a statement of innovative design as a landmark in the city of Dalian. The design respects Chinese culture and urban context, with the thoughtful approach to its relationship to the street providing generous community space and plazas with integrated landscape. This seven-storey shopping mall grasps the fine balance between complex form and function, responding to the immediate surroundings and local community and providing the largest shopping, lifestyle and leisure complex in Dalian.

Organised by UK magazine Retail & Leisure International (RLI), the Global RLI Awards honour and reward the very best projects from the world of retail and leisure.